I received the following email earlier this week from developer Dragos Filipovici. He wanted to share his story about an application he recently created for BlackBerry 10.

As I read the email, it was clear to me that his success was due to the strengths of the BlackBerry 10 HTML5/WebWorks platform and the social power of the open source & blog communities. As such, I wanted to share.

Some of you might already know Dragos online as BglowDragosh. Before getting into BlackBerry 10 app development, he acquired UI design experience in building BlackBerry themes.

Hi Adam,

About a year and a half ago I tried app development using the Java SDK. I got stuck in the complex ways to achieve simple tasks (even creating a basic UI), the not always clear documentation, and the long deployment processes for OS5-7 devices. Granted, I was still a newbie in Java.

However, I was (and still am) a JavaScript newbie as well – 6 months ago when I first started learning web app development.

I believe the biggest factor helping me successfully transition to BlackBerry 10 app development was played by the new tools available, as nothing helps one learn like applying new knowledge into an actual tangible project, if the tools are available. For me, the WebWorks framework, the rich documentation, the forums and Github repositories, even the way the developer.blackberry.com website is designed, helped me immensely as a very-beginner developer. And all of BlackBerry’s efforts in the past year to engage with developers have kept me going, and the company’s new platform vibe kept me excited.

After getting to know WebWorks and then bbUI.js, the learning curve for me was made much easier. I’ve often sent in questions in the WebWorks & bbUI.js Github repositories and most often it was my own code errors trying to achieve simple things, but I got helped each time anyway. Now I post actual API bug reports and sometimes request API features, as users request new features from my app. And I love this formed cycle which I believe was, for my personal experience, a recipe for success.

Which brings me to the present:

So far, it took me about 14 weeks of (intense) work on my first WebWorks app. Yesterday, CrackBerry.com review my app, and in several hours Workahol became the #1 top paid app in BlackBerry World. I am overwhelmed with user feedback suggesting new features – which I will endeavor to implement. It’s great that we are able to achieve such diverse functionality and performant UI without even using the Native SDK, and no user has complained so far (by invoking the old web apps < native argument).

Lastly, if there’s any way I can help – either by speaking about my experience, or to promote this platform, BlackBerry World or the BlackBerry 10 user community in any way, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Kind Regards,

Dragos Filipovici (@BglowDragosh)

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

If you get a chance, check out Workahol in BlackBerry World today. Do you have a success story building for BlackBerry? We’d like to hear – let us know in the comments below.

About Adam S.

Adam is a Team Lead on the Developer Relations Team at BlackBerry. He manages technical relationships with ISVs as well as incubating the developing community ecosystem. Adam specializes in producing applications based on web and native technologies.

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